Friday, August 07, 2009

Family Tree Maker 2010 Improvements

FTM 2010 is now available for sale in the Ancestry store. ( Upgrade Version.) You can save 20% by using the coupon code G5JXTRY at checkout.

Here is a detailed list of what is new on this version of FTM 2010.

Tree ManagementAncestry.com Family Tree DownloadYou can now download your online Ancestry.com trees directly into Family Tree Maker and either start a new tree or merge it into your current file. The downloaded tree will include the facts, images associated with the online tree and a link to the attached source records.Enhanced File Statistics
You can view new statistical information about your tree, including the average life span of individuals in your tree, the earliest birth date, and the most recent birth date.

Data EntryEnhanced Family ViewImprovements to the People workspace allow you to see more information about individuals in the pedigree view as well as information about the parents of the selected couple.Ability to Quickly Add Facts on Person TabWhen adding facts to an individual on the Person tab, you now have the ability to quickly add basic facts (such as Birth, Marriage, and Death) from a drop-down list. The drop-down list will include any facts you’ve custom added to the editing panel on the Family tab.Enhanced Editing of Relationships
A new relationship window gives easy access to relationship facts, notes, and media items.Saved History List
Previously, when you closed the program, you would lose the history list that showed which sources, media items, or individuals you had. Now the history of your changes and additions is saved even after the program has been closed.

SourcingReplacing Source CitationsSource citations can be replaced by an existing source citation—without losing any links to individuals or media items.

ToolsMore Robust Relationship Calculator
The Relationship Calculator now has the ability to display multiple relationships for an individual (for example when cousins marry).Global Spell-CheckAn enhanced spell-check will look for spelling errors in all facts.

Charts, Reports, and BooksFamily Group Sheet RedesignThe Family Group Sheet has been redesigned and has improved image support.Genealogy Report ImprovementsThe wording of the Register and Ahnentafel reports now have a more narrative feel.Kinship Report Lists Multiple RelationshipsThe Kinship report now lists every relationship for an individual. For example, if cousins marry, their relationships as spouses and cousins will be included.Sources in ChartsYou can now include source information with a chart; sources are numbered and displayed at the end of the chart.Export and Delete Individuals from ChartsYou can select a group of individuals in a chart and then export them as a separate tree or delete them as a group.Include or Exclude Non-preferred Events in Charts and ReportsYou can choose whether to include or exclude non-preferred facts from charts and reports.Shortened Place NamesYou can enter your own brief place names to use in reports and charts.Book-Building ImprovementsYou can change the order in which items in your book appear by dragging and dropping them in the book outline; you can also use duplicate names for book items.

MediaScanner Support
You can scan images directly into Family Tree Maker.Slide Show
Create slide show presentations using images you’ve included in your tree. (The slide show can be viewed in Windows Media Player).Work with Media Items as a GroupSelect multiple media items at the same time; choose categories for media items as a group.

Maps and LocationsGPS/Latitude-Longitude SupportIn the Places workspace you can access and modify GPS coordinates. You can also select your own locations on the map and store their GPS coordinates.Migration MapsShow the locations of an individual’s life events on a map. Or choose multiple individuals and show all the locations linked to an entire family. (You can select the specific individuals to include and the specific events you want mapped.)

Web Dashboard
Shows the latest news and information about Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.com

My first review of FTM 2010 shows that it opens andruns much, much faster than previous versions. I am a happy FTM user and really like FTM's search integration. I also like the flexibility of the user interface.
To order FTM 2010 , go to the Ancestry Store, and enter G5JXTRY in the coupon code box at checkout.

If you are purchasing Family Tree Maker 2010 and already own an earlier versino of Family Tree Maker, you can just buy the upgrade, then use the coupon code: 2C4TCHL and received 20% off the upgrade price. With shipping and tax the total is $27.37.

I have been a long time user of FTM and reluctantly decided that I need to make the change to FTM 2009. Upon transferring my data from FTM 2006 (over 3,000 individuals) I find that one of the first things I need to do is resolve more than 1,500 “all place names” issues. I like the idea that it’s identifying areas of inconsistencies when it comes to place names. If that cleans up half of the 1,500 what impact will it have on me if I check “ignore” or “desc.” the balance. Will it just impact the map points? What have other users done? I can’t see why I would want to change the true birth place of an individual to the new name as all the records from the 1800 would still reference the old name. In some cases my fact that I brought over includes the actual street address. Do I drop the address and only show the town? It looks like 2010 will do something with my lat/log reading from my GPS. I had created a lot of fact fields for items like “photo of headstone” or “Find a Grave” – the field is populated with a simple “yes” – how should this be treated? What happens if the balance is marked a a “description” – can I reverse my decision at a later time?Thanks

I just purchased a new computer with Windows 07 and had problems with FTW2006 installation. I was finally able to get it downloaded and was able to access the files. However, it gets lost. If 2010 is for XP and Vista, I wonder if there will be a problem as well because of driver isues. Anyone else have this problem or suggestion. I don't want to spend money and then have to upgrade in the near future.

I have been a faithful FTM user for many years. I finally made the leap from 16 to 2010. For six months I have struggled with it - hated every minute of it and worried knowing that 16 would not be able to keep up with computer technology. Today I say good bye to FTM. I have reviewed many other programs and have found a program that I find worthy and would transfer my images with ease.

To you at Ancestry you made a HUGE mistake when you revamped after 16. Yes you will snag new genealogists but older & wiser researchers are jumping ship like flies. We have found a better tool.

I have been a faithful user of FTM since version 4. I have tried other programs for a while, but I have always come back to FTM. I don't think Ancestry made a mistake with FTM 2010. It suits my needs perfectly. To me, it is extremely flexible plus I love the integrated Ancestry search.

But different people like different things. And it is great that there are so many genealogy programs to choose from.

I just got the upgrade from 2009 to 2010 today. The ONLY reason I bought it was because of this: "The relationship calculator takes the difficulty out of working out how all of the members of your family tree are related - with just a simple click the relationship calculator tells you how all the family members in your tree are related to each other."NOT TRUE....my brother and I have two 4th great-grandfathers who are brothers. One line to my father and the other to my mother. The two relationships the tool shows (1) brother (2) "Grand nephew of husband of aunt of wife of husband."My brother and I are actually 6th cousins.

I've used FTM since it first came out, upgrading when new features appealed to me. The only reason I bought the 2010 version is my new laptop was 64 bit and the version 16 wouldn't work on it. So I installed the 2010 version on my desktop as well so I'd be working in the same version, but it took many trys on both computers just to get it to download my tree properly. I have 70,000 people and the 2010 version just didn't want to accept it without an error notification each time I tried to download my tree. I finally got it downloaded by holding my breath with no rhyme or reason for it not to in the first place(big waste of time). Also, on the old versions, if you upgraded, it would automatically enter new info in both old and new versions on the desktop computer (I always kept both until I learned the new version), but the 2010 version wont do that. Now I keep both the 2010 and version 16 because the version 16 is so much easier to work with than 2010 and I thought I could transfer from desktop computer to laptop with no problems. But I have to use version 16 on my destop then use a thumbdrive to transfer to the laptop 2010 version each time I enter new info, what a pain! The laptop wont take the version 16, or I'd be using it, NOT the 2010!I can't believe how FTM has changed the format. There is a difference between making things difficult and improving things. They didn't have to make it more difficult during the "improvement". What was the purpose in having so many windows open on the screen? It only minimizes the area used the most! And one wrong move will delete info when you think you are closing a window! Also, I have trouble changing spellings of names when before all I had to do was click on the name. In notes I can't just add a word in the middle of a sentence in that unnecessary open window, so what good is it?. It seems the index is now HIDDEN and one has to "find" it to use it. The People Index is used so often it should be one click away, not hidden under "person". Before this version came out it took maybe an hour (if I was slow) to learn the new format, but with this one, even with the manual, it is extremely difficult. I will never upgrade again if I can avoid it! If ever the need comes to upgrade, I'll just find another program that is simplified! Making things harder doesnt' mean it is a better program. I think FTM has the impression if it looks complicated people with think its worth the cost, but let me inform them they are WRONG! I hate how it goes to the "HOME" person when it first starts up. Do they think I don't know who I am? I want it to start with the last person I viewed and not have to click on the name of that person (Unnecessary moves take time, just like trying to find a feature that's hidden. Yep! They really screwed this version up, for sure!I kind of think they are gearing toward new researchers who don't know what good was and will take anything that comes down the pike!

Relationships continue to be a problem in FTM 2011. I have a 32nd great grandmother whose mother is my 30th grand aunt according to FTM. Using the Relationship Calculator tool with this many generations just causes a hang (not my computer, I have 8Gb of memory). My tree is full of these situations, some of which can be resolved, albeit through a very tedious process.

There has been some improvement over early versions of FTM 2010, but there is lots of room for improvement.

I also agree with those folk who found the upgrade from V16 to 2009 a major step backwards. As a person who is very computer literate I have found it a constant struggle to work around this upgrade. As stated, the index is too hard to get to; to get from one siblings family to another siblings family is too hard to get to; the fact that when working in a book and inserting pictures from the scrapbook 2009 does not 'wrap around text' to the picture; nor does it show the picture caption.

These problems are all extremely frustrating and a major step backwards. I have sent suggestions in several times asking the development team to correct the book picture probs and still they are not corrected (so they advised me). I also find it very frustrating when working in the book to have to save and exit the book to refer to FTM notes; why can't they have a separate window for the book which I have also suggested to the development team.

My ongoing books within FTM are the only thing that continues to tie me to it - AT THIS TIME. However I am getting more and more frustrated with it. My husband is also an avid researcher, but not as PC literate and I have advised him to keep on using V16 as he definately would not be able to cope with the changes in the 2010 version.

I agree with the comment that experienced researchers recognise the many faults of this new style FTM 2010.

I started out doing genealogy with FTM, then went on to another program that I felt was easier to enter data & graphically display families better than FTM. I had always liked FTM's charting capabilities, though, so I decided to come back to FTM & buy the 2010 version. I have no idea how good or bad the new FTM is because I've never been able to properly install & open it. I am running Windows 7. I've searched the net, the FTM suggestions, have talked twice to tech support, installed & uninstalled multiple times, manually uninstalled the program, cleaned the registry files, done a clean boot, etc. etc. etc--- and I'm exactly where I started. If I click on the FTM icon, I get an error box telling me it's stopped working.I've put over 20 hours into this now, which seems patently ridiculous to me. I would not advise anyone to buy this program. It's a waste of time and money.

Boy - I agree with the last post about FTM 2010. I've been trying to make a calendar with anniversaries and birthdays for our immediate family and both sides of our families. What a frustrating thing to try to do. It tells me I can change the fonts - which I think is needed to be able to have everything show up on the calendar pages, but there is NO 'font' box' where it tells me to go to do this. I, too, had a hard time loading it on my computer. Frustrating - still can't make the calendars because it won't list the items I ask for.

I am SOOO disappointed! I upgraded to FTM 2010 last year and found it was much less user friendly than my old 2005 edition. I went back to using 2005 and just got a new laptop with Windows 7 64-bit only to find out my FTM 2005 will not work with it. Not Happy!